REPRESENTATIVE MIZUNO, CVS PHARMACY ANNOUNCE THE INSTALLATION OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG DISPOSAL UNITS AT 17 LONGS DRUGS STORES

Effort to help stop prescription drug diversion and misuse, save lives

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – State Representative John Mizuno, Chair the House Health Committee, talked about the need to address the diversion and misuse of unwanted or unneeded prescription medications including opioids in Hawaiʻi at the Kamehameha Long Drugs CVS Pharmacy last week.

Mizuno, author of HB1272 which was signed into law on July 2 as Act 183, said the bill allows for the safe disposal of prescription drugs at drug disposal units now being utilized by CVS Longs at 17 of their pharmacies statewide.

"According to statistics from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, 200 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose, and 2,000 Americans suffer an overdose every day," said Mizuno (Kamehameha Heights, Kalihi Valley, Lower Kalihi). "From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 people have died from a drug overdose. We have an opioid crisis."

The drug disposal units are an effort to combat the opioid epidemic and support healthcare providers and health systems, partner with law enforcement, and encourage consumers to make safe choices about opioids and the devastation that comes with their misuse.

"We need to make sure that prescription drugs that are no longer needed by the patients they were meant for are disposed of properly and don't fall into the wrong hands," said Mizuno. "I want to thank CVS Longs for supporting this endeavor and program in Hawaiʻi."

Nationwide, CVS has installed more than 1,600 in-store safe medication disposal units. The company has also donated more than 987 units to community organizations like police departments. Through this national effort over one million pounds of unwanted medication has been collected.